[app] for the Rift
About You - The Player
Name: Heather
Age: 22
Contact: thefirstnotes @ AIM
Past Role Playing Experience: Is mayonnaise an instrument?
The Character
Name: David Stutler
Age/Birthdate: 23 / April 19, 1988
Species: Wanderer
*Type: Sorcerer
Canon: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
*Pre-existing powers: Dave is the Prime Merlinian, a direct descendant of Merlin himself and the most powerful sorcerer walking the earth in his world. Yes, really. He has an impressive array of powers, as detailed below:
MAGICAL
Dave is a sorcerer. The sorcerers in his world can perform magic through the manipulation of matter down to the most atomic level; they do so by channeling energy into their bodies from the world around them and out through their auras. A short list of Dave’s powers includes:
- Temporal manipulation: Dave can speed time up and slow it down. He cannot, however, time travel.
- Varying degrees of levitation. He can hover many feet up, but only for a brief period of time, and he cannot fly. This is mostly useful for when he falls/is pushed off of things.
- Elemental manipulation: Fire, air, water, earth, light, plasma, the chemical elements. He cannot manipulate emotions or abstract things.
- Bewitchment: He can bewitch inanimate objects to do his bidding. You know that scene where Mickey nearly drowns after the mops go crazy on him? Yeah. But he's still not very good at this.
- Object manipulation: Some people would call this “telekinesis.” Dave does not. This also ties in to:
- Physical manipulation: Dave can change his physical appearance, as well as the physical appearance of others (as well as the appearance of objects, like cars), if he so wishes. This is a complicated and draining thing to do, though, and he’s not yet mastered this ability.
- Spiritual possession/soul fusion: This is frowned upon by Merlinians. There have been times in history where one sorcerer drew the soul of another into his body, for some reason or another-Dave learned how to do this, but he was explicitly told NEVER to use it.
- LOTS OF OTHER STUFF. Sorcery in Dave’s world is more focused on creativity than on learning spells. Spells do exist, but Balthazar taught Dave to work with his own imagination rather than wasting time memorizing and practicing things that might not come in handy. That said, if Dave can figure out a way to do do something, it’ll probably happen. Whether or not it turns out the way he expects, well... that's another thing entirely.
PHYSICAL/MENTAL
Dave doesn’t have many physical abilities; he’s a scrawny little twig of a human being, more threatening in intelligence than anything else. To put it simply, Dave is a bit of a genius when it comes to physics; Balthazar attributed this to the fact that Dave is a sorcerer, which is probably true, as sorcerers are born with an innate understanding of the laws of physics-even the ones that haven’t yet been discovered. He’s also very good at building things: his underground lab is full of homemade Tesla coils that Dave once programmed to zap in tune with music.
If needed, Dave could probably punch someone in the face, but he’d probably break a knuckle or two.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DAVE USES HIS POWERS*
His powers are unlimited, but that doesn't mean he isn't prone to exhaustion after a while. It's said that if a sorcerer burns through his auric energy and tries to use magic while it's depleted, he'll spontaneously combust. This is probably true, but as the Prime Merlinian, Dave's aura is extremely strong and abundant and burning it out completely would be an impressive feat. For those who can sense/see auras, Dave's is a brilliant, iridescent jade green and carries the scent of mint.
Normal humans-that is, humans who are native to the Riftverse and have experienced no change from rift energy-cannot see Dave's brand of magic. Everyone else can. Normal humans will, however, sense it; Dave's magic charges the air, so hair is likely to stand on end. They can also smell it. Mmm, minty~
*This information is largely headcanon, since the movie didn't explain any of this at all. >_>
*Rift Change, if applicable: BALTHAZAR EVERYWHERE. Whenever Dave turns on a television, the first thing he'll see will be a Nic Cage movie. Then he's free to change the channel.
:|
Livejournal: merlinianblood
Played By: Jay Baruchel
Icon: http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/107440225/29519678
Appearance: If not for his tall lankiness and wild hair, Dave would be wholly unremarkable. But, he's not. He's just about 6' tall when he stands up straight, has a shock of brown hair that makes everyone wonder if he's just rolled out of bed (usually, he has), and he looks like a strong gust could blow him over. He has a fair complexion, hazel eyes with bright flecks of green, and slightly misaligned teeth. He has a wolf paw tattoo on the upper left of his chest (the result of a drunken adventure with his roommate), a few scars on his arms from a lab accident, and he still dresses like a college kid. He also wears old man shoes. Always. You will never catch him in anything other than his leather shoes.
Personality: Dave, in essence, is a socially awkward bag of nerdbits who just happens to have something epically awesome going for him. This does not mean he’s ready to start calling himself Captain Awesomepants or anything like that; Dave is still very much a victim of his past, and he has trouble letting go of that, no matter how much Balthazar tries to push it out of him. Though he went to therapy as a child, he never really got over the humiliation he faced that day at Arcana Cabana (see history) and his subsequent nervous breakdown. This is what happens when an entire metropolis thinks you’ve gone mad. This is also what happens when, ten years later, all that therapy is voided by the realization that you’re not.
He’s prone to strong bouts of self-doubt and shyness, especially when facing something bigger than him (either physically or metaphorically so). Dave has never considered himself an especially strong person in any way aside from his intelligence, and he still doesn’t; he knows what he’s capable of and, over the years, has built up stronger defenses, but he’s easily overwhelmed by things that fall outside the realm of academia. There are still times where he lies awake in bed at night, wondering if he’ll wake up the next day and not have any powers, and everyone will think he’s crazy all over again.
He most often tries to compensate for all his negative traits through self-deprecating humor. He’s completely aware of his own awkwardness, and he sometimes tries to use that to his advantage, though it doesn’t always work. He’s also been known to do the occasional Stupid Thing as well, mostly to prove to himself that he’s not that abnormal-like the time he went to a frat party and got more than a little tipsy and accidentally turned the boar head mounted on the wall back into a real boar-only to have Balthazar sit back and say, “I told you so.” Dave’s been labeled “different” his whole life; even though he knows it’s completely true, a small part of him wishes he wasn’t. The thing he most dislikes about being the Prime Merlinian is the amount of responsibility resting on his shoulders; he already saved the world once and he knows he’ll probably have to do it again. That’s a lot for a 23-year-old to think about.
In spite of all these not-great things, Dave does have some positive attributes going for him. His occasional stupidity, while responsible for most of his near-death experiences, is also responsible for his most heroic acts. Dave is pretty selfless in the face of danger, more worried about protecting others than protecting himself. In that way, he has grown since becoming a sorcerer; he started off worried that he would die. Now, he’s more worried that he won’t be able to save everyone else. He’s also extremely loyal and dedicated. Even though he didn’t want this “job” in the first place, he’s since grown to realize that he is, in fact, the ONLY person on the planet who can do it. And that’s kind of cool.
Making friends isn’t difficult for him, but it’s not something he actively does. He’s a bit of a loner, and the people he tends to attract are those who want to change that. His best friend and roommate, Bennett, likes lecturing him about wolves and packs and things. Dave doesn’t always pay attention.
History: n/a
Events: 1) When Dave was 10 years old, a "coincidence" led him from his teacher's side during a field trip into a strange shop called Arcana Cabana. There, he met ancient sorcerer Balthazar Blake, and discovered he was the Prime Merlinian. During his brief time in the store, he accidentally loosed another sorcerer-the Morganian, Maxim Horvath-and there all his troubles began. Balthazar and Horvath had a magical battle that resulted in what Dave thought was destruction of the store; he fled as soon as he was able and ran back to his teacher, babbling about magic and crazy guys and fire.
Except when his teacher went to check, the store was absolutely fine. Dave's resulting nervous breakdown was blamed on a glucose imbalance, which caused the "hallucinations" he had in the Arcana Cabana that day. He was treated with medication and transferred schools. Dave spent the next ten years thinking he was just temporarily crazy, which did wonders for his self-confidence.
2) 10 years later, Dave found himself with 2 options: 1) Accept his powers and defeat the evil sorceress Morgana, or 2) Let the entire world go to shit and watch it happen.
He went with option 1.
With this second event, Dave basically had to disregard everything he knew to be true: magic really existed and he was never actually crazy. The affects these things had are mostly described in his personality section.
Dave is a few years post-canon. He graduated NYU at the very top of his class with a degree in Physics and has mostly been training with Balthazar ever since.
Writing Sample: In the darkness, Dave shivers.
"Really, man? Is this necessary? I'm already freaked out. The fog's a nice touch, but come on-"
A tiny plasma ball flies past his head and he promptly claps a hand over his mouth to keep from screaming. Somewhere in the forest-that-isn't, Balthazar is smirking.
Dave glares. "Wow, okay. Nice. Trying to kill me again. Thanks."
"Dave." The proximity of Balthazar's voice-directly behind him-makes him jump. "Focus," his master says. "Calm down, lose the sarcasm, and focus."
He inhales; the air that fills his lungs is damp and heavy, appropriate for New York in autumn, but tinged with something dark and foreboding that leaves a bad taste in his mouth. As Balthazar moves away, the sound of crunching leaves and twigs growing more distant, Dave can't help but bitterly wonder how he's supposed to focus when it feels like he's just licked something long dead.
That, he guesses, is the point. Learn to function in unpleasant circumstances. "You won't be as lucky as you were with Morgana," Balthazar had warned him, not too long ago. "She's not all this world will throw at you. You need to be ready."
In the pit of his stomach, Dave knows that Balthazar is right. (Balthazar would argue that he's always right, which isn't entirely true. Balthazar wasn't right about the milk being spoiled the other day; it was only half-spoiled. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE. But, I digress.)
Something in the distance chitters. It's an unearthly sound that makes the hairs on Dave's body stand on frightened end, but in spite of this, he readies himself: feet shoulder-width apart and firmly set on the ground, knees slightly bent, hands resting at his side but ready to cast a spell at a moment's notice.
As the sound grows closer, rustling up some leaves as it moves, Dave feels that old, familiar feeling of wait, wait, you've got the wrong guy, I'm not who you think I am, I'm not a sorcerer, I can't do this-
And then he thinks of Morgana's face as she tried to break free from the deadly bolts he'd so cunningly wrapped her in, and he thinks of Balthazar's face as he opened his eyes for the first time after Dave pulled him back from the brink of this world and the next, and he thinks of Becky's face and how she beamed so brightly at him when it was all over.
The voice in the back of his head gives way to another train of thought: I can do this.
He flicks his wrists, bringing two fireballs into his hands from thin air, and heads for the noise waiting mere feet away from him.
Name: Heather
Age: 22
Contact: thefirstnotes @ AIM
Past Role Playing Experience: Is mayonnaise an instrument?
The Character
Name: David Stutler
Age/Birthdate: 23 / April 19, 1988
Species: Wanderer
*Type: Sorcerer
Canon: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
*Pre-existing powers: Dave is the Prime Merlinian, a direct descendant of Merlin himself and the most powerful sorcerer walking the earth in his world. Yes, really. He has an impressive array of powers, as detailed below:
MAGICAL
Dave is a sorcerer. The sorcerers in his world can perform magic through the manipulation of matter down to the most atomic level; they do so by channeling energy into their bodies from the world around them and out through their auras. A short list of Dave’s powers includes:
- Temporal manipulation: Dave can speed time up and slow it down. He cannot, however, time travel.
- Varying degrees of levitation. He can hover many feet up, but only for a brief period of time, and he cannot fly. This is mostly useful for when he falls/is pushed off of things.
- Elemental manipulation: Fire, air, water, earth, light, plasma, the chemical elements. He cannot manipulate emotions or abstract things.
- Bewitchment: He can bewitch inanimate objects to do his bidding. You know that scene where Mickey nearly drowns after the mops go crazy on him? Yeah. But he's still not very good at this.
- Object manipulation: Some people would call this “telekinesis.” Dave does not. This also ties in to:
- Physical manipulation: Dave can change his physical appearance, as well as the physical appearance of others (as well as the appearance of objects, like cars), if he so wishes. This is a complicated and draining thing to do, though, and he’s not yet mastered this ability.
- Spiritual possession/soul fusion: This is frowned upon by Merlinians. There have been times in history where one sorcerer drew the soul of another into his body, for some reason or another-Dave learned how to do this, but he was explicitly told NEVER to use it.
- LOTS OF OTHER STUFF. Sorcery in Dave’s world is more focused on creativity than on learning spells. Spells do exist, but Balthazar taught Dave to work with his own imagination rather than wasting time memorizing and practicing things that might not come in handy. That said, if Dave can figure out a way to do do something, it’ll probably happen. Whether or not it turns out the way he expects, well... that's another thing entirely.
PHYSICAL/MENTAL
Dave doesn’t have many physical abilities; he’s a scrawny little twig of a human being, more threatening in intelligence than anything else. To put it simply, Dave is a bit of a genius when it comes to physics; Balthazar attributed this to the fact that Dave is a sorcerer, which is probably true, as sorcerers are born with an innate understanding of the laws of physics-even the ones that haven’t yet been discovered. He’s also very good at building things: his underground lab is full of homemade Tesla coils that Dave once programmed to zap in tune with music.
If needed, Dave could probably punch someone in the face, but he’d probably break a knuckle or two.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DAVE USES HIS POWERS*
His powers are unlimited, but that doesn't mean he isn't prone to exhaustion after a while. It's said that if a sorcerer burns through his auric energy and tries to use magic while it's depleted, he'll spontaneously combust. This is probably true, but as the Prime Merlinian, Dave's aura is extremely strong and abundant and burning it out completely would be an impressive feat. For those who can sense/see auras, Dave's is a brilliant, iridescent jade green and carries the scent of mint.
Normal humans-that is, humans who are native to the Riftverse and have experienced no change from rift energy-cannot see Dave's brand of magic. Everyone else can. Normal humans will, however, sense it; Dave's magic charges the air, so hair is likely to stand on end. They can also smell it. Mmm, minty~
*This information is largely headcanon, since the movie didn't explain any of this at all. >_>
*Rift Change, if applicable: BALTHAZAR EVERYWHERE. Whenever Dave turns on a television, the first thing he'll see will be a Nic Cage movie. Then he's free to change the channel.
:|
Livejournal: merlinianblood
Played By: Jay Baruchel
Icon: http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/107440225/29519678
Appearance: If not for his tall lankiness and wild hair, Dave would be wholly unremarkable. But, he's not. He's just about 6' tall when he stands up straight, has a shock of brown hair that makes everyone wonder if he's just rolled out of bed (usually, he has), and he looks like a strong gust could blow him over. He has a fair complexion, hazel eyes with bright flecks of green, and slightly misaligned teeth. He has a wolf paw tattoo on the upper left of his chest (the result of a drunken adventure with his roommate), a few scars on his arms from a lab accident, and he still dresses like a college kid. He also wears old man shoes. Always. You will never catch him in anything other than his leather shoes.
Personality: Dave, in essence, is a socially awkward bag of nerdbits who just happens to have something epically awesome going for him. This does not mean he’s ready to start calling himself Captain Awesomepants or anything like that; Dave is still very much a victim of his past, and he has trouble letting go of that, no matter how much Balthazar tries to push it out of him. Though he went to therapy as a child, he never really got over the humiliation he faced that day at Arcana Cabana (see history) and his subsequent nervous breakdown. This is what happens when an entire metropolis thinks you’ve gone mad. This is also what happens when, ten years later, all that therapy is voided by the realization that you’re not.
He’s prone to strong bouts of self-doubt and shyness, especially when facing something bigger than him (either physically or metaphorically so). Dave has never considered himself an especially strong person in any way aside from his intelligence, and he still doesn’t; he knows what he’s capable of and, over the years, has built up stronger defenses, but he’s easily overwhelmed by things that fall outside the realm of academia. There are still times where he lies awake in bed at night, wondering if he’ll wake up the next day and not have any powers, and everyone will think he’s crazy all over again.
He most often tries to compensate for all his negative traits through self-deprecating humor. He’s completely aware of his own awkwardness, and he sometimes tries to use that to his advantage, though it doesn’t always work. He’s also been known to do the occasional Stupid Thing as well, mostly to prove to himself that he’s not that abnormal-like the time he went to a frat party and got more than a little tipsy and accidentally turned the boar head mounted on the wall back into a real boar-only to have Balthazar sit back and say, “I told you so.” Dave’s been labeled “different” his whole life; even though he knows it’s completely true, a small part of him wishes he wasn’t. The thing he most dislikes about being the Prime Merlinian is the amount of responsibility resting on his shoulders; he already saved the world once and he knows he’ll probably have to do it again. That’s a lot for a 23-year-old to think about.
In spite of all these not-great things, Dave does have some positive attributes going for him. His occasional stupidity, while responsible for most of his near-death experiences, is also responsible for his most heroic acts. Dave is pretty selfless in the face of danger, more worried about protecting others than protecting himself. In that way, he has grown since becoming a sorcerer; he started off worried that he would die. Now, he’s more worried that he won’t be able to save everyone else. He’s also extremely loyal and dedicated. Even though he didn’t want this “job” in the first place, he’s since grown to realize that he is, in fact, the ONLY person on the planet who can do it. And that’s kind of cool.
Making friends isn’t difficult for him, but it’s not something he actively does. He’s a bit of a loner, and the people he tends to attract are those who want to change that. His best friend and roommate, Bennett, likes lecturing him about wolves and packs and things. Dave doesn’t always pay attention.
History: n/a
Events: 1) When Dave was 10 years old, a "coincidence" led him from his teacher's side during a field trip into a strange shop called Arcana Cabana. There, he met ancient sorcerer Balthazar Blake, and discovered he was the Prime Merlinian. During his brief time in the store, he accidentally loosed another sorcerer-the Morganian, Maxim Horvath-and there all his troubles began. Balthazar and Horvath had a magical battle that resulted in what Dave thought was destruction of the store; he fled as soon as he was able and ran back to his teacher, babbling about magic and crazy guys and fire.
Except when his teacher went to check, the store was absolutely fine. Dave's resulting nervous breakdown was blamed on a glucose imbalance, which caused the "hallucinations" he had in the Arcana Cabana that day. He was treated with medication and transferred schools. Dave spent the next ten years thinking he was just temporarily crazy, which did wonders for his self-confidence.
2) 10 years later, Dave found himself with 2 options: 1) Accept his powers and defeat the evil sorceress Morgana, or 2) Let the entire world go to shit and watch it happen.
He went with option 1.
With this second event, Dave basically had to disregard everything he knew to be true: magic really existed and he was never actually crazy. The affects these things had are mostly described in his personality section.
Dave is a few years post-canon. He graduated NYU at the very top of his class with a degree in Physics and has mostly been training with Balthazar ever since.
Writing Sample: In the darkness, Dave shivers.
"Really, man? Is this necessary? I'm already freaked out. The fog's a nice touch, but come on-"
A tiny plasma ball flies past his head and he promptly claps a hand over his mouth to keep from screaming. Somewhere in the forest-that-isn't, Balthazar is smirking.
Dave glares. "Wow, okay. Nice. Trying to kill me again. Thanks."
"Dave." The proximity of Balthazar's voice-directly behind him-makes him jump. "Focus," his master says. "Calm down, lose the sarcasm, and focus."
He inhales; the air that fills his lungs is damp and heavy, appropriate for New York in autumn, but tinged with something dark and foreboding that leaves a bad taste in his mouth. As Balthazar moves away, the sound of crunching leaves and twigs growing more distant, Dave can't help but bitterly wonder how he's supposed to focus when it feels like he's just licked something long dead.
That, he guesses, is the point. Learn to function in unpleasant circumstances. "You won't be as lucky as you were with Morgana," Balthazar had warned him, not too long ago. "She's not all this world will throw at you. You need to be ready."
In the pit of his stomach, Dave knows that Balthazar is right. (Balthazar would argue that he's always right, which isn't entirely true. Balthazar wasn't right about the milk being spoiled the other day; it was only half-spoiled. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE. But, I digress.)
Something in the distance chitters. It's an unearthly sound that makes the hairs on Dave's body stand on frightened end, but in spite of this, he readies himself: feet shoulder-width apart and firmly set on the ground, knees slightly bent, hands resting at his side but ready to cast a spell at a moment's notice.
As the sound grows closer, rustling up some leaves as it moves, Dave feels that old, familiar feeling of wait, wait, you've got the wrong guy, I'm not who you think I am, I'm not a sorcerer, I can't do this-
And then he thinks of Morgana's face as she tried to break free from the deadly bolts he'd so cunningly wrapped her in, and he thinks of Balthazar's face as he opened his eyes for the first time after Dave pulled him back from the brink of this world and the next, and he thinks of Becky's face and how she beamed so brightly at him when it was all over.
The voice in the back of his head gives way to another train of thought: I can do this.
He flicks his wrists, bringing two fireballs into his hands from thin air, and heads for the noise waiting mere feet away from him.